Transcript of First case of more spreadable mpox detected in UK | BBC News

The first case of a highly infectious Mpox variant has been detected in the UK for the first time in a person who returned from a holiday in one of the affected countries in Africa last week. The UK Health Security Agency says the patient is currently isolating at home under the care of the Royal Free Hospital in London. How significant is this and how great is the threat to the public health? Here's more from our health correspondent, Dominic Hughes.

Mpox is a disease that currently there are a number of different outbreaks in Central Africa, mainly based around the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also seen in Uganda, in Kenya, in Rwanda, and Burundi. It was one of these countries that this holiday maker was visiting. Now, they returned to the UK to London at the beginning of last week. Within 24 hours, they fell ill, developing the distinctive rash, which is a symptom of Mpox. You get this rash on your legs, your arms, your hands, your face, sometimes on your torso, and it's filled with... You get the rashes, pus-filled pustules, and then you can also develop flu-like symptoms. They sought help at their local hospital at the Royal Free in London. They were quickly diagnosed that it was Mpox Some further tests were carried out to confirm that. They're currently isolating at home, and the UK Health Security Agency say they are in the business of tracing now some of those close contacts, so maybe around 10 people. They describe the risk to the general population in the UK as being very low. They say that at the moment, they have all the measures in place.

They need to contain this outbreak because the patient is isolating, and they don't think anyone else actually who was on the plane with that person when they returned from Africa, from the African country that we're visiting at the beginning of last week, they don't think any of those people will have been exposed either.